by allenbclark@aol.com www.combatfaith.com
www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
For thirty months (January 1979-June 1981) it was my privilege to be a political appointee in the administration of William P. Clements, Jr., the first Texas Republican governor since Reconstruction after the Civil War. When he became a candidate in the spring 1978 primary, I quickly signed up to help him because I had met him by sitting next to him at a head table when he addressed an audience in his position as Deputy Secretary of Defense. His business success and leadership experience at the Pentagon convinced me he would be an outstanding governor of Texas and that he was!
As it evolved I was his first selection to help staff his office after he won a hard-fought uphill battle against a heavily-favored Democrat. I was hired on the staff of the outgoing Democrat Governor Dolph Briscoe in early December 1978 to assist in laying the groundwork for Clements' assumption of office in January 1979. He appointed me his special assistant for administration and when one entered the governor's office suite, if one turned right instead of left to his office, one entered my office. One of the unexpected responsibilities of my new position was to help screen the intermittent "characters" that were drawn as magnets to the governor's office. They were a diverse crowd of "bag ladies," recently released patients from state mental hospitals, paranoids who were being invaded by messages from outer space, CIA mind control victims, individuals seeking all sorts of redress of grievances at all levels of government, and even a representative of a "cultic" religion who said his leader could be the returned Messiah. It was my desire to derive some sort of perspective on this interruption of all the many other duties consuming my time.
Eventually I requested a psychiatrist from the state's Mental Health Department to visit with me to impart some wisdom and equity to the approach I should follow to respond to these people from circles I was encountering for the first time in my life. He differentiated "challenged/troublesome" persons in three ways, "bad, sad, or mad." It was a simple manner of triage for those who presented themselves to our receptionist
and the Department of Public Safety security person in the Governor's Reception Room. The definition has always stuck with me and I tend to catalogue some people in one of those categories. Since I have had my own healing from Post Traumatic Stress after losing my legs in Vietnam, I have dedicated myself to helping combat veterans and active military heal also. Many troubled combat vets, who will admit issues from wartime, are in the "sad" mode, grieving from the emotional or spiritual wounds of horrific wartime experiences. Many suffer sadness from moral injury in the war from killing others, especially women and children in the fog of war, or when they did or did not do something which caused injury to others.
Clint Eastwood starred in a 1966 movie, "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." That title was apropos for my eleven months in Vietnam beginning in 1966. We recognize the "bad," serious criminals amongst us. Among the "bad" are also those "uglies" who hurt others through perpetrating or not performing actions that harm others emotionally, bodily, or financially through wrongful emotional or ethical actions. My manifestly "good" Lord Jesus healed my "sads", and faith in Him can go a long way to healing everyone's "sads," and maybe also many of the "bads" that relate to wrongful and sinful behavior, and, who knows, maybe even some of the "mads," although those admittedly are best left to medical professionals.
By faith in Jesus it is my definite belief that all who are "bad, sad, or mad," can perhaps obtain some relief, if not healing, through faith in Jesus with the transformational changes that only come through His teachings in our Bible. I tried it and liked it! It just may work for all of us and many we know.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Saturday, August 16, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #32: "The Good Life"
By: allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
Ecclesiastes 3:13 "And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God." (KJV)
Last weekend I journeyed to the northeast to visit my younger daughter, her husband, and two grandchildren. Friday we drove to Hershey, PA to enjoy Hershey Park for the day. Enjoy is too mild a word to describe the experience. The exuberance, wonder, and simple joy exhibited by young children is indeed a sight to behold. All over the park were young families, grey-headed grandparents (with me in that group), young couples, teenagers, all partaking in "the good life" for the day. The smells of chocolate permeated from the shops, the tastes of many delicacies were satisfied over and over again, and the sounds of thrills on the roller coasters were always in the background. All walks of life and styles of clothing were evident and cute little children clinging closely to older siblings or parents were constantly in view. For the day it definitely was "the good life" in America, our special and "exceptional" place on this planet in the August sun and I drank it in in big gulps.
At my daughter's church on Sunday the pastor's topic was "the good life." He made reference to the above quote from Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon. In my King James Life Application Study Bible (Tyndale House Publishers) the book's introduction states, "Grasping the sweet things-possessions, experience, power, and pleasure-they find nothing inside. Life is empty, meaningless...and they despair." Hershey Park that day and definitely for me was a place of pure pleasure, full and meaningful with no despair evident. The attendees with the admission charges, vendors, and numerous places of culinary delights were enjoying the good of someone's labor and it was all "the good life." The end of the day for all could have been nothing but full of peace and contentment. It was a day when I marveled at this example of America's "exceptionalism" in a purely physical environment. The pastor and Solomon, "...affirms(ed) the value of knowledge, relationships, work, and pleasure; but only in their proper place. All of these temporal things in life must be seen in the light of the eternal."
Eventually at the end of the day for sure and always in life, the tastes are no more, the squeals of delight of the children are quieted, the bright lights are turned off, and the carousel stops its circling. For many life is meaningless. But, for those of us who know that Jesus is the Son of God, who entered our physical world two thousand years ago, we can partake fully in all these fleeting pleasures knowing that eternity awaits us. Perhaps in Heaven God will provide carousels and Hershey Kisses if those are important any longer.
We finished the day at the water park area where I patiently waited while my daughter and her children lazily floated on inner tubes around a water way. By myself my eyes took in the peace, tranquillity, and enjoyment before my eyes, but my mind wandered to the order by the president the night before to provide humanitarian aid to the thousands of minority Iraqis besieged by the fanatics to reestablish their caliphate by means of barbaric terror. The contrasts with my eyes and the thoughts in my mind were unsettling. Ecclesiastes 3:2 states, "A time to be born, and a time to die,..." Park attendees that day were born to revel in the well-deserved pleasures of that oasis. Also that day for some it was a time to die in all the strife and warfare all over the rest of the world. My prayer is that sometime somewhere all that feel that "the good life" goes on forever will recognize that it is ephemeral and that by ensuring their place in eternity with its lasting "existence" is the only "forever" there can truly be.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #31: "The Magna Carta"
by Allen Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In November 2013 on Linda's and my trip to southwest England we toured Salisbury Cathedral, defined as "Britain's finest 13th century cathedral." We had two very delightful and instructive guides, one a retired Navy captain aviator and a retired Army major, who had been an advisor to the Abu Dhabi Army. Some of my favorite conversations on our trip were with former military men.
One very distinct feature of all the cathedrals we visited is that they have memorials dedicated to their military. At Salisbury there were several windows and a plaque dedicated to the Wiltshire Regiment that had been in the British Army invasion of Washington that burned our White House in the War of 1812. The guides did not impart that fact with any degree of relish and I had a lack of enthusiasm upon learning about it, but this was their history and I accepted it. They have a decided degree of pride in their local units that serve in their army. A very poignant plaque, dedicated to the Burma Campaign of 1941-1945 is quoted thusly, "When you go home, tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today." Very fitting words for America's youth and those protected in America by our own military.
The most compelling sight to view at Salisbury Cathedral is that is home to the best preserved of four surviving original Magna Carta sealed by King John on June 15, 1215. On one of my previous trips to England I had gone to the site on the Thames River outside Windsor Castle at Runnymede where this monumental document was signed. According to the cathedral's pamphlet, "...the document set down the relationship for the first time between the king and his subjects and their rights." It inspired our own Constitution. The Magna Carta was most significant to the western world because by its signing, a significant end came to the "divine right" by which the English King John and other monarchs before him had ruled. King John had been such an oppressive king that his barons and knights forced him to sign the Magna Carta.
It has had tremendous influence in the United States. Russell Kirk wrote in The Roots of American Order that the Magna Carta "...became the rock upon which the English constitution was built. It is the principle of the supremacy of law....it is the root of the Declaration of Independence." This document laid the foundation all these many centuries ago for the freedom and liberty enjoyed today by us in America.
In The Light and the Glory Peter Marshall and David Manuel wrote about the situation in our land that contributed to our own Revolution, "Americans were now being taxed for the mother country's own revenue and at the same time denied the basic right of all Englishmen to representation in the government which was levying the taxes...For the King to ignore this right which was guaranteed by the Magna Carta, meant that he was putting himself above the law and that settled it." Besides this cause of our Revolution it must be recalled that a major impetus to securing our freedom was due to our Christian ministers. "Thanks to the Great Awakening there was now a new generation of committed clergy salted throughout America." (Marshall and Manuel).
It is easily said that the foundations of our own Declaration of Independence and Constitution had their roots in that document which by 2015 will have been signed 800 years ago to curb the power of a king who had run roughshod over his subjects.
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In November 2013 on Linda's and my trip to southwest England we toured Salisbury Cathedral, defined as "Britain's finest 13th century cathedral." We had two very delightful and instructive guides, one a retired Navy captain aviator and a retired Army major, who had been an advisor to the Abu Dhabi Army. Some of my favorite conversations on our trip were with former military men.
One very distinct feature of all the cathedrals we visited is that they have memorials dedicated to their military. At Salisbury there were several windows and a plaque dedicated to the Wiltshire Regiment that had been in the British Army invasion of Washington that burned our White House in the War of 1812. The guides did not impart that fact with any degree of relish and I had a lack of enthusiasm upon learning about it, but this was their history and I accepted it. They have a decided degree of pride in their local units that serve in their army. A very poignant plaque, dedicated to the Burma Campaign of 1941-1945 is quoted thusly, "When you go home, tell them of us and say for your tomorrow we gave our today." Very fitting words for America's youth and those protected in America by our own military.
The most compelling sight to view at Salisbury Cathedral is that is home to the best preserved of four surviving original Magna Carta sealed by King John on June 15, 1215. On one of my previous trips to England I had gone to the site on the Thames River outside Windsor Castle at Runnymede where this monumental document was signed. According to the cathedral's pamphlet, "...the document set down the relationship for the first time between the king and his subjects and their rights." It inspired our own Constitution. The Magna Carta was most significant to the western world because by its signing, a significant end came to the "divine right" by which the English King John and other monarchs before him had ruled. King John had been such an oppressive king that his barons and knights forced him to sign the Magna Carta.
It has had tremendous influence in the United States. Russell Kirk wrote in The Roots of American Order that the Magna Carta "...became the rock upon which the English constitution was built. It is the principle of the supremacy of law....it is the root of the Declaration of Independence." This document laid the foundation all these many centuries ago for the freedom and liberty enjoyed today by us in America.
In The Light and the Glory Peter Marshall and David Manuel wrote about the situation in our land that contributed to our own Revolution, "Americans were now being taxed for the mother country's own revenue and at the same time denied the basic right of all Englishmen to representation in the government which was levying the taxes...For the King to ignore this right which was guaranteed by the Magna Carta, meant that he was putting himself above the law and that settled it." Besides this cause of our Revolution it must be recalled that a major impetus to securing our freedom was due to our Christian ministers. "Thanks to the Great Awakening there was now a new generation of committed clergy salted throughout America." (Marshall and Manuel).
It is easily said that the foundations of our own Declaration of Independence and Constitution had their roots in that document which by 2015 will have been signed 800 years ago to curb the power of a king who had run roughshod over his subjects.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #30: "Defecting to the Enemy"
Avalon Chronicles #30: "Defecting to the Enemy"
By Allen Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
When the Korean War started on June 25, 1950 with the attack on South Korea by the North Korean Communists, I was in Sendai, Japan where my father was an officer in the Army of Occupation. I remember going to the railroad station and seeing off the troops traveling south to go to war. During the war many of our troops were captured by the Communists. My father was in Korea when the war ended in 1953. During the war when I was in Japan, I avidly read the Star and Stripes newspaper and kept up with the war. After the war I was appalled to read an article that about 23 American prisoner of war soldiers had chosen to remain with the enemy when prisoner repatriation occured. They had defected to the enemy. As a West Point cadet, Army officer, and Vietnam War Special Forces officer involved in clandestine operations, keeping my activities and information confidential, and especially away from the enemy, was a part of my life. Especially in Vietnam, we were always on the alert for any of our agents to have been defectors to the enemy. Military enemies are pretty well-defined. They are in the history books and deeply embedded in the memories of those of us in military and diplomatic circles.
Less well-recognized are our own personal spiritual enemies. Unequivocably, undeniably, and emphatically I believe in personal spiritual warfare. In my previous Chronicle I addressed "strategic" spiritual warfare. It is now time to address "tactical" spiritual warfare, the incessant and constant struggle we face each and every day to combat our individual enemies in the spiritual realm, wherein we are tempted mightily to defect to the enemy and leave God's protective fortress.
Back in the 1970s Flip Wilson starred in a television series and when he acted wrongly, he always claimed, "The devil made me do it!" There is great wisdom and truth in that simple comment and claim to deflect accountability for our inappropriate thoughts, words, and deeds, some not just "stupids," but also outright sins.
There is not time to reflect extensively on my beliefs in spiritual warfare, but allow me to be as succinct as possible. This is what I believe. Take it or leave it! An angelic being at one time high in the Heavenly power structure decided to defect from allegiance to God and became the "enemy." That being was Lucifer, and God evicted him from Heaven with one third of the angels who became the enemy force. In the New Testament in I Peter 5:8 it is written, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." The footnote in my KJV LASB elaborates thusly, "Lions attack sick, young, or straggling animals; they choose victims who are alone or not alert. Peter warns us to watch out for Satan when we are suffering or persecuted. Feeling alone, weak, helpless, and cut off from other believers, so focused on our troubles that we forget to watch for danger, we are especially vulnerable to Satan's attacks." In James 4:7 it is written, "...Resist the devil and he will flee from you." The footnote states this, "Satan is here now, however, and he is trying to win us over to his evil cause. With the Holy Spirit's power we can resist Satan and he will flee from us." Otherwise we may be taken in by the devil's wiles and if we succumb, by definition, we have defected to the enemy.
Back to those angels thrown from Heaven to earth. Their assignment is to oversee the toils, tribulations, and trials perpetrated by the higher earthly powers addressed by C.S. Lewis in the previous Chronicle. Our daily adversaries are demonic spirits. There is much discourse about from whence they emanate. I put all that academic discussion aside and just believe thay are prevalent as the enemy foot soldiers of Satan. Just as I was cognizant of my military enemies, I am cognizant of my spiritual enemies. If I allow them to direct me rather than following God's direction for my behavior, I have, in effect, "Defected to the enemy."
A friend of mine sent me just today a perfect scripture that relates how we can be armed to fight the schemes of the devil. It is Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." I add also, ACT on these things. Stay tuned as to how we must continue to arm ourselves to counter the personal spiritual enemies we face each day so that our behavior honors the Creator God and does not cause personal discord and unhappiness for us or others.
By Allen Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
When the Korean War started on June 25, 1950 with the attack on South Korea by the North Korean Communists, I was in Sendai, Japan where my father was an officer in the Army of Occupation. I remember going to the railroad station and seeing off the troops traveling south to go to war. During the war many of our troops were captured by the Communists. My father was in Korea when the war ended in 1953. During the war when I was in Japan, I avidly read the Star and Stripes newspaper and kept up with the war. After the war I was appalled to read an article that about 23 American prisoner of war soldiers had chosen to remain with the enemy when prisoner repatriation occured. They had defected to the enemy. As a West Point cadet, Army officer, and Vietnam War Special Forces officer involved in clandestine operations, keeping my activities and information confidential, and especially away from the enemy, was a part of my life. Especially in Vietnam, we were always on the alert for any of our agents to have been defectors to the enemy. Military enemies are pretty well-defined. They are in the history books and deeply embedded in the memories of those of us in military and diplomatic circles.
Less well-recognized are our own personal spiritual enemies. Unequivocably, undeniably, and emphatically I believe in personal spiritual warfare. In my previous Chronicle I addressed "strategic" spiritual warfare. It is now time to address "tactical" spiritual warfare, the incessant and constant struggle we face each and every day to combat our individual enemies in the spiritual realm, wherein we are tempted mightily to defect to the enemy and leave God's protective fortress.
Back in the 1970s Flip Wilson starred in a television series and when he acted wrongly, he always claimed, "The devil made me do it!" There is great wisdom and truth in that simple comment and claim to deflect accountability for our inappropriate thoughts, words, and deeds, some not just "stupids," but also outright sins.
There is not time to reflect extensively on my beliefs in spiritual warfare, but allow me to be as succinct as possible. This is what I believe. Take it or leave it! An angelic being at one time high in the Heavenly power structure decided to defect from allegiance to God and became the "enemy." That being was Lucifer, and God evicted him from Heaven with one third of the angels who became the enemy force. In the New Testament in I Peter 5:8 it is written, "Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." The footnote in my KJV LASB elaborates thusly, "Lions attack sick, young, or straggling animals; they choose victims who are alone or not alert. Peter warns us to watch out for Satan when we are suffering or persecuted. Feeling alone, weak, helpless, and cut off from other believers, so focused on our troubles that we forget to watch for danger, we are especially vulnerable to Satan's attacks." In James 4:7 it is written, "...Resist the devil and he will flee from you." The footnote states this, "Satan is here now, however, and he is trying to win us over to his evil cause. With the Holy Spirit's power we can resist Satan and he will flee from us." Otherwise we may be taken in by the devil's wiles and if we succumb, by definition, we have defected to the enemy.
Back to those angels thrown from Heaven to earth. Their assignment is to oversee the toils, tribulations, and trials perpetrated by the higher earthly powers addressed by C.S. Lewis in the previous Chronicle. Our daily adversaries are demonic spirits. There is much discourse about from whence they emanate. I put all that academic discussion aside and just believe thay are prevalent as the enemy foot soldiers of Satan. Just as I was cognizant of my military enemies, I am cognizant of my spiritual enemies. If I allow them to direct me rather than following God's direction for my behavior, I have, in effect, "Defected to the enemy."
A friend of mine sent me just today a perfect scripture that relates how we can be armed to fight the schemes of the devil. It is Philippians 4:8, "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." I add also, ACT on these things. Stay tuned as to how we must continue to arm ourselves to counter the personal spiritual enemies we face each day so that our behavior honors the Creator God and does not cause personal discord and unhappiness for us or others.
Monday, May 19, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #29: "Life's Contrasts"
Avalon Chronicles #29: "Life's Contrasts"
by Allen Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.blogspot.com www.combatfaith.com
I attended my daughter Elizabeth's wedding in early May in Solothurn, Switzerland, a country of unparalled natural beauty. She married Patrick, a gentleman and Swiss citizen. We celebrated the days there on two leisurely boat rides, one on Lake Thun, adjacent to Interlaken, with snow-capped Swiss Alps looking down upon our tranquil waters. There were several social events with wedding guests from England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Lichtenstein, and of course, the U.S.. The family and friends of the groom welcomed the American visitors with warmth, kindness, and great generosity, emotions significantly in contrast to those evidenced in the stories I read upon my return to the real world in the newspapers whose absence from my thoughts was very pleasant during my days abroad. It was most peaceful and elevating to visit that neutral nation, bask in its sunlight, wind through hilly curves to remote mountain hideaways to dine on the staple cheeses, and to stop at riverside spots to experience the charm of its ancient cities and villages untouched in centuries by warfare.
Now it is off to California for a series of opportunities to be a guest in Manteca and Lodi at ceremonies honoring our war dead. The wedding and these upcoming activities are great contrasts of life; Switzerland's peaceful mountain villages, historic walled towns, clean and clear rivers, gracious people and the somberness of our Memorial Day weekend when we recollect all the sad past times as we honor the great young Americans sacrificed so we and others might have tranquillity and peace in a strife-torn world. I will join the assemblages as we mourn the memory of our young men and women offered on the altars of freedom in faraway foreign lands.
Upon my return to my homeland my thoughts dwelled upon the same problems and challenges prevalent prior to my pleasant experiences at the wedding; Benghazi and terrorists, deaths in Ukraine, Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haran, Iranian and North Korean sabre-rattling, Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. They are still there and I suppose always will be since they started in the Garden of Eden with disobedience to God and will continue until the final return of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
The bottom line in the strategic sense is that there has been from time immemorial a focus by most on the created, ourselves, rather than the Creator, our God. C.S. Lewis in his Mere Christianity captured this eternal struggle we face as humans on this earth, contrasted by the peace and beauty of our earth created by God and the turmoil and tribulation perpetrated and practiced by us humans also created by God. Lewis wrote, "Men and women have always hoped that...(they) could set up on their own as if they have created themselves-be their own masters-invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside of God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history-money, poverty, ambition, wars, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery-the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."
True happiness and peace for ourselves cannot be found outside God. For the world it cannot be found outside God. We, God's created, and recipients of my writings, cannot do much about all the interruptions to world peace, but we can seek and find our own personal peace. Stay tuned for my thoughts on how to attempt that for ourselves.
by Allen Clark allenbclark@aol.com
www.combatfaith.blogspot.com www.combatfaith.com
I attended my daughter Elizabeth's wedding in early May in Solothurn, Switzerland, a country of unparalled natural beauty. She married Patrick, a gentleman and Swiss citizen. We celebrated the days there on two leisurely boat rides, one on Lake Thun, adjacent to Interlaken, with snow-capped Swiss Alps looking down upon our tranquil waters. There were several social events with wedding guests from England, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Lichtenstein, and of course, the U.S.. The family and friends of the groom welcomed the American visitors with warmth, kindness, and great generosity, emotions significantly in contrast to those evidenced in the stories I read upon my return to the real world in the newspapers whose absence from my thoughts was very pleasant during my days abroad. It was most peaceful and elevating to visit that neutral nation, bask in its sunlight, wind through hilly curves to remote mountain hideaways to dine on the staple cheeses, and to stop at riverside spots to experience the charm of its ancient cities and villages untouched in centuries by warfare.
Now it is off to California for a series of opportunities to be a guest in Manteca and Lodi at ceremonies honoring our war dead. The wedding and these upcoming activities are great contrasts of life; Switzerland's peaceful mountain villages, historic walled towns, clean and clear rivers, gracious people and the somberness of our Memorial Day weekend when we recollect all the sad past times as we honor the great young Americans sacrificed so we and others might have tranquillity and peace in a strife-torn world. I will join the assemblages as we mourn the memory of our young men and women offered on the altars of freedom in faraway foreign lands.
Upon my return to my homeland my thoughts dwelled upon the same problems and challenges prevalent prior to my pleasant experiences at the wedding; Benghazi and terrorists, deaths in Ukraine, Nigerian girls kidnapped by Boko Haran, Iranian and North Korean sabre-rattling, Israeli-Palestinian conflicts. They are still there and I suppose always will be since they started in the Garden of Eden with disobedience to God and will continue until the final return of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus, the Christ.
The bottom line in the strategic sense is that there has been from time immemorial a focus by most on the created, ourselves, rather than the Creator, our God. C.S. Lewis in his Mere Christianity captured this eternal struggle we face as humans on this earth, contrasted by the peace and beauty of our earth created by God and the turmoil and tribulation perpetrated and practiced by us humans also created by God. Lewis wrote, "Men and women have always hoped that...(they) could set up on their own as if they have created themselves-be their own masters-invent some sort of happiness for themselves outside of God, apart from God. And out of that hopeless attempt has come nearly all that we call human history-money, poverty, ambition, wars, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery-the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy."
True happiness and peace for ourselves cannot be found outside God. For the world it cannot be found outside God. We, God's created, and recipients of my writings, cannot do much about all the interruptions to world peace, but we can seek and find our own personal peace. Stay tuned for my thoughts on how to attempt that for ourselves.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #28: "Balm of Gilead"
Avalon Chronicles #28: "Balm of Gilead"
by Allen Clark www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
allenbclark@aol.com
Resurrection Day 2014 is a very propitious day to consider the topic of healing. Two or so weeks ago I received a message from Donald R. Moeller, an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, who lives in Columbus, Ga. Dr. Moeller is a D.D.S., and M.D., also with an MA in Biological Sciences. He had deployed as a Medical Corpsman to Vietnam and as a surgeon in his specialty to Desert Storm. He wrote, "I am a Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran who is treating veterans with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury" by means of what in my (Allen's) non-medical description is a mouthpiece worn at night to stop teeth-grinding and therefore helps alleviate headaches, nightmares, and sleep disruptions. Dr. Moeller sent me a paper that was published in the "Journal of Special Operations Medicine" describing his research and success with over 200 patients whom he has treated without charge. He said, "Time to add a spiritual dimension to this treatment. These guys and gals are still depressed even when their nightmares and headaches and sleep disruptions are gone....I am looking for Christian/Biblical methodologies which are proving successful....Got any thoughts on this or suggestions?"
I was immensely intrigued with what he was accomplishing with my fellow war veterans, curious as to how he found out about me, and most anxious to be in touch with him. I was not sure how to respond, but knew that the best way was to pray and receive guidance from God as how to proceed. Linda began a prayer and as she prayed, the word "balm" came to my mind. We began to discuss the topic and she said we place casts for broken bones, medicine for infection, and there was to be a balm for the spiritual healing of the soul. I looked up balm in my Webster's dictionary and found, "to soothe, to mitigate, to assuage" which led "to ease or lessen pain or grief or tumult, to soften in harshness or severity." In my personal lay ministry I have spoken to many troops and veterans about not just coping with our combat operating stressors, but as did I in the 1970s, come to a level of my Christian faith that I could heal with the major symptoms of my PTSD.
Linda's musical background led her to the Black-American spiritual titled "There is a Balm in Gilead." The words of this are, "There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul." I commented that those of us with PTSD are not necessarily sinful, but we definitely are sick in our souls. Further research led us to find out about the geographical Gilead, which is located east of the Jordan River. In the Hebrew Old Testament Gilead was a place of refuge for Jacob (Genesis 31:21-55); the nation of Israel (I Samuel 13:7); and even King David (2Samuel 17:22).
I was ready to talk to Dr. Moeller. Initially I was most curious as to how Dr. Moeller found me. In a fashion highly complimentary he said he did a search of hundreds of web sites and decided to contact me after coming across mine. Dr. Moeller referred me to a book titled War and the Soul by Edward Tick, Ph.D. I am not all the way through the book, but its basic thesis is that war causes "soul damage." This, of course, is the negative effect to our mind, emotions, and our will due to the traumas of combat. Damage to our soul ultimately is a spiritual issue. In my own healing process, the damage to my soul after my double leg amputation from Vietnam shrapnel wounds, my PTSD (whose term there is an effort to change to PTSI for injury), fourteen weeks in a closed psychiatric ward, and six years of psychiatrists and antidepressants, was solely due to my spiritual healing process by which I got the big picture about Jesus truly being the Son of God, Who died on a cross two thousand years ago, for me to have eternal life. At a church service I teared as I looked at the American flag and realized I needed to move my identity from that of a loyal and patriotic American soldier to add the dimension of an added and much more consequential identity as a Christian. Once I accomplished that spiritual maturation, I began a walk of faith which has served me in excellent stead to be "healed" from all the major issues I suffered in my damaged soul after Vietnam.
I asked Dr. Moeller about permission to describe what he does without charge to treat our troubled war veterans with his dental procedure and asked permission also to tell about how we came in contact and also mention his contact information. I said several hundred people read my Avalon Chronicles and he may have several new patients. He had told me previously that patients even outside his Fort Benning area come at their own expense in to Columbus and he fits them with his oral device. His reply, "Send all the patients you want. That is why I am on this earth." I have often wondered how my life would have differed had I not returned from Vietnam with my severe wounds. For sure I would not be attempting to help my fellow war veterans heal their soul damage by introducing them to the only long-term balm they can have to heal them which is the ultimate spiritual refuge, the healing power of Jesus. Perhaps, also, that is why I was able to remain on this earth. I published last year a tract which is my approach to the healing of PTSD(I) by Christian methodology. Anyone desiring a copy may message me at email above. May God bless and keep you.
Dr Moeller may be contacted at molar543@aol.com
by Allen Clark www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
allenbclark@aol.com
Resurrection Day 2014 is a very propitious day to consider the topic of healing. Two or so weeks ago I received a message from Donald R. Moeller, an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon, who lives in Columbus, Ga. Dr. Moeller is a D.D.S., and M.D., also with an MA in Biological Sciences. He had deployed as a Medical Corpsman to Vietnam and as a surgeon in his specialty to Desert Storm. He wrote, "I am a Vietnam and Desert Storm veteran who is treating veterans with PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury" by means of what in my (Allen's) non-medical description is a mouthpiece worn at night to stop teeth-grinding and therefore helps alleviate headaches, nightmares, and sleep disruptions. Dr. Moeller sent me a paper that was published in the "Journal of Special Operations Medicine" describing his research and success with over 200 patients whom he has treated without charge. He said, "Time to add a spiritual dimension to this treatment. These guys and gals are still depressed even when their nightmares and headaches and sleep disruptions are gone....I am looking for Christian/Biblical methodologies which are proving successful....Got any thoughts on this or suggestions?"
I was immensely intrigued with what he was accomplishing with my fellow war veterans, curious as to how he found out about me, and most anxious to be in touch with him. I was not sure how to respond, but knew that the best way was to pray and receive guidance from God as how to proceed. Linda began a prayer and as she prayed, the word "balm" came to my mind. We began to discuss the topic and she said we place casts for broken bones, medicine for infection, and there was to be a balm for the spiritual healing of the soul. I looked up balm in my Webster's dictionary and found, "to soothe, to mitigate, to assuage" which led "to ease or lessen pain or grief or tumult, to soften in harshness or severity." In my personal lay ministry I have spoken to many troops and veterans about not just coping with our combat operating stressors, but as did I in the 1970s, come to a level of my Christian faith that I could heal with the major symptoms of my PTSD.
Linda's musical background led her to the Black-American spiritual titled "There is a Balm in Gilead." The words of this are, "There is a balm in Gilead, To make the wounded whole; There is a balm in Gilead, To heal the sin-sick soul." I commented that those of us with PTSD are not necessarily sinful, but we definitely are sick in our souls. Further research led us to find out about the geographical Gilead, which is located east of the Jordan River. In the Hebrew Old Testament Gilead was a place of refuge for Jacob (Genesis 31:21-55); the nation of Israel (I Samuel 13:7); and even King David (2Samuel 17:22).
I was ready to talk to Dr. Moeller. Initially I was most curious as to how Dr. Moeller found me. In a fashion highly complimentary he said he did a search of hundreds of web sites and decided to contact me after coming across mine. Dr. Moeller referred me to a book titled War and the Soul by Edward Tick, Ph.D. I am not all the way through the book, but its basic thesis is that war causes "soul damage." This, of course, is the negative effect to our mind, emotions, and our will due to the traumas of combat. Damage to our soul ultimately is a spiritual issue. In my own healing process, the damage to my soul after my double leg amputation from Vietnam shrapnel wounds, my PTSD (whose term there is an effort to change to PTSI for injury), fourteen weeks in a closed psychiatric ward, and six years of psychiatrists and antidepressants, was solely due to my spiritual healing process by which I got the big picture about Jesus truly being the Son of God, Who died on a cross two thousand years ago, for me to have eternal life. At a church service I teared as I looked at the American flag and realized I needed to move my identity from that of a loyal and patriotic American soldier to add the dimension of an added and much more consequential identity as a Christian. Once I accomplished that spiritual maturation, I began a walk of faith which has served me in excellent stead to be "healed" from all the major issues I suffered in my damaged soul after Vietnam.
I asked Dr. Moeller about permission to describe what he does without charge to treat our troubled war veterans with his dental procedure and asked permission also to tell about how we came in contact and also mention his contact information. I said several hundred people read my Avalon Chronicles and he may have several new patients. He had told me previously that patients even outside his Fort Benning area come at their own expense in to Columbus and he fits them with his oral device. His reply, "Send all the patients you want. That is why I am on this earth." I have often wondered how my life would have differed had I not returned from Vietnam with my severe wounds. For sure I would not be attempting to help my fellow war veterans heal their soul damage by introducing them to the only long-term balm they can have to heal them which is the ultimate spiritual refuge, the healing power of Jesus. Perhaps, also, that is why I was able to remain on this earth. I published last year a tract which is my approach to the healing of PTSD(I) by Christian methodology. Anyone desiring a copy may message me at email above. May God bless and keep you.
Dr Moeller may be contacted at molar543@aol.com
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Avalon Chronicles #27: "Valor in Vietnam"
Avalon Chronicles #27: "Valor in Vietnam"
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In 1979 I became the special assistant for administration to newly-elected Texas Governor Bill Clements and moved with my family to Austin from Dallas. During my thirty month time in that very satisfying and uplifting position I met people from all over the state. One of the people I met was Robert Floyd, who represented the legislative interests of an organization. In those early years after the Vietnam War unless we met someone in a veteran setting, we did not necessarily realize we shared a mutual history as fellow Vietnam veterans. I do not recall whether I knew then that Robert had served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.
Fast forward to a few years ago on a cruise to Alaska on a Pastor Chuck Swindoll-led trip on which I became acquainted with an Austinite, Michael Wright, with whom I developed an instant affinity, mostly because we shared the Vietnam experience. He spoke about a committee on which he served titled the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument Committee, chaired by the same Robert Floyd, who had been off my radar screen for thirty or so years. Robert and I became reacquainted and I learned of the plans which had been ongoing since 2005 to build and place on the Texas Capitol grounds a monument to all Texans who served in Vietnam with special tribute to the 3,417 fallen Texas heroes who did not return with us. There are many war "memorials" to our Killed In Action (KIAs), but this was conceived as a "monument" to us all.
Several days before the actual March 29, 2014 unveiling of the monument on the Capitol grounds in Austin, Robert, who had been in attendance in July 2012 in Dallas with his son-in-law Troy Ferguson, a West Pointer class of 1995, at the inaugural book signing of my book Valor in Vietnam Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice sent me a note indicating he was to be including in his dedication remarks the term "Valor in Vietnam" as indicative of what we Vietnam veterans reflected by our service in the war.
The morning of March 29, 2014 dawned with a brilliantly clear and cloudless blue sky, a perfect day for the monument ceremony on the northeast grounds of the Capitol. The program described it thusly, "Above a 'sunset red' granite pediment a series of large bas-relief panels capture scenes depicting the men and women of Texas who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam. Poised above the panels, five 'Dawn Patrol' figures represent the service and sacrifice of Texas combat infantry troops."
Seated just down the sidewalk from the center of the ceremony, we were serenaded by the Texas Children's Choir and the 36th Infantry Division Band. 4000 audience members packed seats and stands. Before the ceremony I stood and gazed around the audience and felt a great sense of pride to be amongst the men and women who had gone off to that controversial war with me. I scanned across the faces of the ones who truly reflected "Valor in Vietnam," a phrase in fact later included in Floyd's remarks, those who did not obtain deferments or skip off to Mexico or Canada or Scandinavia.
There were many poignant moments, but my tears gushed forth freely twice, once as I pulled Linda close to me when the blue covering fell away to reveal the breathtaking monument in all its glory and again when the choir sang "Mansions of the Lord," the theme song of the movie "We Were Soldiers." Joe Galloway, who was the war correspondent actually in the November 1965 Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, depicted in the movie, delivered most eloquent and heartfelt remarks. I believe it was Robert Floyd who attributed to Galloway that, "Vietnam veterans were not the 'Greatest Generation', but were the greatest of our generation." My belief in that sentiment was certainly enhanced after the day's experiences. Two of my West Point class of 1963 Texans were KIA in our war, Ralph Walker and Burt McCord, both of whose daughters I am acquainted.. Burt was singled out specifically by Floyd because they were both from Brady, Texas. A set of personalized dog tags for each of the Texas KIA is entombed in the monument, having been personally stamped by Marine Don Dorsey, another Vietnam veteran from the long-past Austin days.
Eddie McCord Cargile, Burt's widow, attended with Gene Cargile, another classmate. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst delivered very moving remarks from his heart and afterwards we passed and he quietly said to me, "Thank you for all you do." Governor Rick Perry paused on his departure and hugged Linda.
Robert Floyd brought to that 2012 book signing as I mentioned his son-in-law Troy Ferguson. Troy has two sons, Caleb and Daniel. When the ceremony was over, I spoke to Troy, waved down the row to Kimberly, his wife and Robert and Sherry Floyd's daughter, touched the heads of both sons and asked them how they were. Daniel proclaimed only one word, "Awesome!" That one word said it all for me to describe the day. It was AWESOME!
Our Lord grants us great gifts in life. Many are what I term "closures" with people or happenings, full circle coming around experiences. This day was that with Robert Floyd amongst my fellow participants from that long ago, harsh and cruel war in that far-off land. The memories dim, but the experience was uplifted magnificently that day in the shared surroundings of my fellow "Greatest of Our Generation" Texans.
(A monument mobile tour may be found at www.tcvvm.org)
by Allen B. Clark allenbclark@aol.com www.combatfaith.com www.combatfaith.blogspot.com
In 1979 I became the special assistant for administration to newly-elected Texas Governor Bill Clements and moved with my family to Austin from Dallas. During my thirty month time in that very satisfying and uplifting position I met people from all over the state. One of the people I met was Robert Floyd, who represented the legislative interests of an organization. In those early years after the Vietnam War unless we met someone in a veteran setting, we did not necessarily realize we shared a mutual history as fellow Vietnam veterans. I do not recall whether I knew then that Robert had served in Vietnam with the 101st Airborne Division.
Fast forward to a few years ago on a cruise to Alaska on a Pastor Chuck Swindoll-led trip on which I became acquainted with an Austinite, Michael Wright, with whom I developed an instant affinity, mostly because we shared the Vietnam experience. He spoke about a committee on which he served titled the Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument Committee, chaired by the same Robert Floyd, who had been off my radar screen for thirty or so years. Robert and I became reacquainted and I learned of the plans which had been ongoing since 2005 to build and place on the Texas Capitol grounds a monument to all Texans who served in Vietnam with special tribute to the 3,417 fallen Texas heroes who did not return with us. There are many war "memorials" to our Killed In Action (KIAs), but this was conceived as a "monument" to us all.
Several days before the actual March 29, 2014 unveiling of the monument on the Capitol grounds in Austin, Robert, who had been in attendance in July 2012 in Dallas with his son-in-law Troy Ferguson, a West Pointer class of 1995, at the inaugural book signing of my book Valor in Vietnam Chronicles of Honor, Courage, and Sacrifice sent me a note indicating he was to be including in his dedication remarks the term "Valor in Vietnam" as indicative of what we Vietnam veterans reflected by our service in the war.
The morning of March 29, 2014 dawned with a brilliantly clear and cloudless blue sky, a perfect day for the monument ceremony on the northeast grounds of the Capitol. The program described it thusly, "Above a 'sunset red' granite pediment a series of large bas-relief panels capture scenes depicting the men and women of Texas who served in the U.S. Armed Forces in Vietnam. Poised above the panels, five 'Dawn Patrol' figures represent the service and sacrifice of Texas combat infantry troops."
Seated just down the sidewalk from the center of the ceremony, we were serenaded by the Texas Children's Choir and the 36th Infantry Division Band. 4000 audience members packed seats and stands. Before the ceremony I stood and gazed around the audience and felt a great sense of pride to be amongst the men and women who had gone off to that controversial war with me. I scanned across the faces of the ones who truly reflected "Valor in Vietnam," a phrase in fact later included in Floyd's remarks, those who did not obtain deferments or skip off to Mexico or Canada or Scandinavia.
There were many poignant moments, but my tears gushed forth freely twice, once as I pulled Linda close to me when the blue covering fell away to reveal the breathtaking monument in all its glory and again when the choir sang "Mansions of the Lord," the theme song of the movie "We Were Soldiers." Joe Galloway, who was the war correspondent actually in the November 1965 Battle of the Ia Drang Valley, depicted in the movie, delivered most eloquent and heartfelt remarks. I believe it was Robert Floyd who attributed to Galloway that, "Vietnam veterans were not the 'Greatest Generation', but were the greatest of our generation." My belief in that sentiment was certainly enhanced after the day's experiences. Two of my West Point class of 1963 Texans were KIA in our war, Ralph Walker and Burt McCord, both of whose daughters I am acquainted.. Burt was singled out specifically by Floyd because they were both from Brady, Texas. A set of personalized dog tags for each of the Texas KIA is entombed in the monument, having been personally stamped by Marine Don Dorsey, another Vietnam veteran from the long-past Austin days.
Eddie McCord Cargile, Burt's widow, attended with Gene Cargile, another classmate. Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst delivered very moving remarks from his heart and afterwards we passed and he quietly said to me, "Thank you for all you do." Governor Rick Perry paused on his departure and hugged Linda.
Robert Floyd brought to that 2012 book signing as I mentioned his son-in-law Troy Ferguson. Troy has two sons, Caleb and Daniel. When the ceremony was over, I spoke to Troy, waved down the row to Kimberly, his wife and Robert and Sherry Floyd's daughter, touched the heads of both sons and asked them how they were. Daniel proclaimed only one word, "Awesome!" That one word said it all for me to describe the day. It was AWESOME!
Our Lord grants us great gifts in life. Many are what I term "closures" with people or happenings, full circle coming around experiences. This day was that with Robert Floyd amongst my fellow participants from that long ago, harsh and cruel war in that far-off land. The memories dim, but the experience was uplifted magnificently that day in the shared surroundings of my fellow "Greatest of Our Generation" Texans.
(A monument mobile tour may be found at www.tcvvm.org)
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